The Death Of A Small Town Poem by Jim Milks

A town dies in so many small ways
Over months and years, not merely days
It fades away bit by bit
With all the evil that good men permit

It passes slowly not with a scream but with a whimper
Until nothing is left of a once glorious dream
As night falls, the darkness before the dawn
One more family forever gone

From the town pours an endless sullen parade
Without a thought back to those that stayed
Another town fades into history
Where it went a sad mystery

Leaving behind an empty space
Of a land a town a place
But something more to be sure
A town is a heart we can all embrace

©JPM 3/8/10